# How do you pronounce Either? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434 "2012-01-04T22:43:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/1 "2012-01-04T22:43:19Z")
Strong I - Ither Or e-ther Does the gas ether have the same pronunciation? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/2 "2012-01-04T22:50:05Z")
Obviously this is going to vary substantially by region (poll would have been more interesting if you broke it down thusly). I think the American pronunciation is generally with the long E while the Queen’s pronunciation is the long I. Hence some Americans will pronounce it the British way, but they’re probably pretentious twits. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/3 "2012-01-04T22:52:42Z")
I seem to recall a song… ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/4 "2012-01-04T22:54:17Z")
Alternate between eethur and iithur. Ether the gas is different again. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/5 "2012-01-04T22:56:45Z")
_Other_: either way. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/6 "2012-01-04T22:57:09Z")
So, that explains why I keep hearing people say I-ther. They are using the Brit pronunciation. Interesting. Of course neither can also have the strong I or strong E. That’s also a Brit thing? > [@Rigamarole](#): > > Obviously this is going to vary substantially by region (poll would have been more interesting if you broke it down thusly). I think the American pronunciation is generally with the long E while the Queen’s pronunciation is the long I. Hence some Americans will pronounce it the British way, but they’re probably pretentious twits. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/7 "2012-01-04T22:57:56Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > _Other_: either way. Yup, this. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/8 "2012-01-04T23:02:25Z")
I pronounce it both, I mean either, way. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/9 "2012-01-04T23:02:28Z")
“eether”, but a good portion of the time I’ll mix it up and use “eye-ther” (perhaps 20% of the time?) ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/10 "2012-01-04T23:03:48Z")
Eeeth-er. The gas, ether, has a stronger TH sound, if that makes sense (more like-ee-THer). ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/11 "2012-01-04T23:04:14Z")
I pronounce it with a long _i_ (which is to say the diphthong ʌɪ) in the first syllable, just like Aslan. ---
**Author:** ![UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/46a35a/32.png) [@UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UFC_Is_Sux)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/12 "2012-01-04T23:08:25Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I think the American pronunciation is generally with the long E while the Queen’s pronunciation is the long I. Hence some Americans will pronounce it the British way, but they’re probably pretentious twits. Sorry, neither :rolleyes: And I pronounce it with the strong I. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/13 "2012-01-04T23:10:08Z")
E-ither one, I-ither way - Both ways have their place and I wouldn’t say I use one more than the other. Ether is ee-TH-er. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/14 "2012-01-04T23:12:06Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Eeeth-er. The gas, ether, has a stronger TH sound, if that makes sense (more like-ee-THer). Technically, the difference between the two _th_ sounds is that the _th_ in _either_ is voiced, while that in _ether_ is voiceless. I write this in full anticipaiton that the knowledge will be entirely useless to you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/15 "2012-01-05T13:58:43Z")
Either way. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/16 "2012-01-05T14:06:10Z")
Other: Either way, probably with some kind of contextual consistency that I have never examined in detail. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/17 "2012-01-05T14:12:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Other: Either way, probably with some kind of contextual consistency that I have never examined in detail. The same goes for me. I’ve tried speaking a few sentences to try to get a feel for when I use each pronunciation and I couldn’t find any consistant rule that feels “right”. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/18 "2012-01-05T14:18:26Z")
> [@Chopper9760](#): > > E-ither one, I-ither way - Both ways have their place and I wouldn’t say I use one more than the other. This. I blame being Canadian and multilingual (English and American!) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/19 "2012-01-05T14:23:04Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Obviously this is going to vary substantially by region (poll would have been more interesting if you broke it down thusly). I think the American pronunciation is generally with the long E while the Queen’s pronunciation is the long I. Hence some Americans will pronounce it the British way, but they’re probably pretentious twits. Umm, I’m a Brit and I say eether. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434/20 "2012-01-05T14:28:57Z")
I think I say ee-ther all the time. But when I try saying eye-ther, that too sounds correct. So, I’m probably in the “depends on the context” boat too, and without a clue what the rule is. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either/608434.md?page=2)